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American Express Platinum Card Review: Is the Fee Worth It?

Updated

The American Express Platinum Card is the most expensive personal card in Canada and the one with the broadest set of travel perks: a large lounge network, annual travel and dining credits, hotel elite status and a full travel insurance package. It is a charge card rather than a credit card, so most purchases are due in full each month. Whether it’s worth it depends almost entirely on how much of that package you use, because the fee is certain and the perks pay back only when used. This review is one of our credit card reviews and roundups.

FactDetails
CardAmerican Express Platinum Card
IssuerAmerican Express
Annual Fee$799/year
Additional Card Fee$250/year per Additional Platinum Card
Income RequirementNone published
Base Earn Rate2x points on dining and food delivery in Canada, 2x on travel, 1x everything else
Foreign Transaction Fee2.5%
Purchase Interest Rate21.99% on Flexible Payment Option balances; 30% on delinquent due-in-full charges

Stable card facts (fee, income requirement, base earn rate, and any confirmed interest/FX rates) current as of 2026-10-06. Welcome/sign-up bonuses change frequently and are not included here — confirm the current offer on the issuer’s site before applying.

What you pay

American Express Platinum Card
Annual fee$799/year ($250 for each Additional Platinum Card)
Card typeCharge card with no pre-set spending limit
Interest21.99% on Flexible Payment Option balances; 30% on delinquent due-in-full charges
Foreign transaction fee2.5%
Income requirementNone published; applicants need to be Canadian residents with a Canadian credit file who have reached the age of majority

Because it’s a charge card, the balance is “due in full” each month except for amounts placed on the Flexible Payment Option, which carry interest. Missing payments raises that rate, under the terms on Amex’s card page.

What you get back

Annual credits

The card includes a $200 Annual Travel Credit and a $200 Annual Dining Credit. Both come with conditions: the travel credit applies to eligible travel bookings under its terms, and the dining credit only at a curated list of Canadian restaurants, so their value depends on whether you would book and dine that way anyway. A cardholder who uses both every year offsets a large part of the fee; one who doesn’t gets nothing from them. Amex also lists a NEXUS benefit of up to $100 in statement credits when NEXUS application or renewal fees are charged to the card.

Airport lounges

The lounge benefit is the American Express Global Lounge Collection, more than 1,550 lounges; from January 1, 2027, complimentary Plaza Premium and Priority Pass visits are limited each year unless you reach $20,000 in eligible annual spend. The network includes Centurion Lounges, Plaza Premium, Priority Pass, Delta Sky Clubs when flying Delta, and partner lounges, with guest rules that vary by lounge. The 2027 change is the one to plan around: below the spend threshold, Plaza Premium and Priority Pass visits (the lounges most Canadian airports have) stop being unlimited, while the other lounges in the collection stay unlimited. How the Platinum’s lounge access compares with the DragonPass visits on Visa Infinite Privilege cards is set out in the premium credit card roundup.

Hotel status

Cardmembers can enrol for Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite and Hilton Honors Gold status. Those tiers carry each hotel program’s elite benefits on stays you’d make anyway, and have little value if you rarely stay at those chains. The hotel credit card roundup covers co-branded hotel cards.

Insurance

The Platinum includes a full travel package, stated in Amex’s terms as:

CoverageAs American Express states it
Out-of-province emergency medicalup to $5,000,000 for the first 15 consecutive days of a trip, for cardmembers under age 65
Trip cancellationup to $2,500 per insured person per trip, to a maximum of $5,000 for all insured persons combined
Trip interruptionup to $2,500 per insured person per trip, to a maximum of $6,000 for all insured persons combined
Purchase protection120 days from the date of purchase, up to $1,000 per occurrence

Flight delay, baggage delay, lost baggage, hotel burglary, travel accident and rental car theft and damage cover are also listed. Every coverage is subject to the certificate of insurance; the medical cover applies only to cardmembers under 65 and only for the first 15 days of a trip, which matters for older travellers and long trips. The credit cards with travel insurance roundup compares the Platinum’s terms with other cards, and the credit card insurance guide explains how claims and exclusions work.

Earning Membership Rewards points

The card earns 2x points on dining and food delivery in Canada, 2x on travel, 1x everything else. That’s a lower everyday earn rate than the Amex Cobalt on food and groceries, so many Platinum holders pair it with another card for everyday spending. The points can be used for travel, statement credits or gift cards, or transferred to airline and hotel programs; what each option returns is covered in the Amex Membership Rewards guide.

Amex runs a welcome offer on the Platinum, usually paid in points after a spending requirement in the first months and sometimes in stages; the current terms are on Amex’s Platinum page, and how welcome offers work explains what to check before counting on one.

Who the fee pays off for

Tends to come out aheadTends to lose money on the fee
Flies several times a year and uses lounges each tripTravels once or twice a year
Would use the travel credit on an eligible bookingWouldn’t make a booking the credit covers
Dines at the restaurants the dining credit coversRarely eats at those restaurants
Stays at Marriott or Hilton propertiesHas no hotel loyalty
Under 65 and wants the included travel cover65 or older, since the medical cover stops at 64
Spends enough to reach the 2027 lounge spend thresholdSpends little on the card

A simple test: add up the credits you’d certainly use, the lounge visits you’d make (at what you’d otherwise pay), and the insurance you’d otherwise buy, and compare that with the fee. If the total isn’t comfortably above the fee, a mid-fee travel card returns more. The premium credit card roundup walks through that sum.

Platinum vs other Amex cards

CardAnnual feeEarn rate
American Express Platinum Card$799/year2x points on dining and food delivery in Canada, 2x on travel, 1x everything else
American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card$599/year3x direct Air Canada/AC Vacations purchases, 2x dining & food delivery, 1.25x everything else
American Express Gold Rewards Card$250/year2x gas/groceries/drugstore, 2x travel, 1x everything else
American Express Cobalt Card$191.88/year ($15.99/mo)5x food & drink (groceries, dining, food delivery, capped $2,500/mo combined), 3x streaming, 2x gas/transit/rideshare, 1x everything else

The Aeroplan Reserve suits Air Canada flyers who want Maple Leaf Lounge access and Aeroplan perks; the Platinum suits travellers who fly several airlines and want the broader lounge network and hotel status. The best American Express cards roundup compares the whole lineup. American Express isn’t accepted everywhere in Canada; where Amex is accepted explains the gaps and why many cardholders carry a Visa or Mastercard as well.

The bottom line

The Platinum is a travel card for people who travel often enough to use its lounges, credits and status every year. For them, the package can be worth more than the fee. For most others, a premium Visa Infinite card or a mid-fee travel card returns more after the fee, and the lounge change in 2027 makes the card a weaker fit for anyone who won’t reach the spending threshold.

Sources

The figures and rules on this page come from these sources. How we check facts.